


Mrs. Cheria Lhant

by azureheavens



Series: Lord and Lady [1]
Category: Tales of Graces
Genre: Domestic, F/M, Fluff, Moving In Together, Post-Canon, You know that Cheria would have the most cliched diary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 07:59:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6974506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azureheavens/pseuds/azureheavens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story about a diary, a young girl's fantasy, and the future ahead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mrs. Cheria Lhant

The small pale pink diary held open in Cheria's hands, the white pages she opened to at random stared up at her. She only barely remembered keeping this diary when she was younger, and she couldn’t have imagined what she would have written about. Still, what she found was haunting.

Surrounded in hearts and swirls and flowers, in the largest and curliest handwriting read the words:

_Mrs. Cheria Lhant_

Color left Cheria's face, replaced with burning heat. When she could finally move her fingers again, she turned the page. It got worse. The whole wedding was planned out in drawings with large heads and formal outfits. A faceless mass of people stood watching, and in the front was Grandpa, Lord Aston, Lady Kerri, Hubert with a the little bride in a braid and groom with a cowlick walking hand in hand up to the manor, which inexplicably had been converted into a castle.

Cheria didn't want to turn the page again. How old was she when she drew that? She certainly didn't remember it. She flipped open to a new page and found more normal entries for a young girl. There were still some drawings scattered around, but these were much less mortifying.

Strange though, that her old childhood scribbles were about to become reality…

"Cheria?"

Cheria yelped and clutched the diary to her chest.

"Wait, what's wrong?!" Asbel stood on the landing in between the main room and her bedroom. He and Sophie were helping her seperate and pack up some of her things from Grandpa's to bring over to the manor. Cheria was in bedroom organizing what she needed and didn't need. She already packed up all her clothes in a large trunk and now was rummaging through old boxes to find what else was hiding there. Old books and papers and keepsakes. She had a lot, actually, but somethings were better off hidden…

"Huh? N-nothing's wrong! Just doing some cleaning," Cheria stammered through a laugh. "Did you need something?"

"No, it's just you were gasping and muttering things over here, so I wondered what you were doing."

"I'm not doing anything! Everything is fine!"

Asbel scratched his head. "Oookay then." He returned to the front room. Cheria let go of the sigh stuck in her throat.

She didn't know why she reacted like that, but she still didn't feel like she could just put down the diary. She peaked around the partition at Asbel and pouted. He went back to filling the last box with what Cheria had already set aside, going back to work as if nothing happened. Must be nice, not being so affected by anything. If only he knew what was actually inside her diary!

"Cheria, what are you doing?"

Cheria yelped again and stared at Sophie, who was standing beside her. Apparently she returned from bringing a particularly heavy box to the manor and Cheria didn't even notice. "O-oh, it's you! You startled me, Sophie."

"Why were you spying on Asbel?" She asked.

"I-I wasn't spying." Cheria said quietly, in case Asbel could hear. "I was just stretching my legs, you know, from sitting and looking through boxes all day." She went back to her spot on the floor next to the box. She had barely started digging through it when she got sidetracked.

Sophie squatted down with her and looked inside. "What's in here?"

"Oh, books, old papers. I even found this," Cheria said held the diary up for Sophie to look at, but definitely not to touch. "I used to write all my thoughts in here when I was little."

"I didn't know you used to keep a diary." Sophie said, her eyes sparkling with interest.

"Of course! Lots of children keep diaries and journals, but I don't think many manage to keep them. This one is all filled up. All my thoughts and feelings, and even a drawing or two…"

Sophie oohed. "Asbel said you were good at drawing. Can I see it?"

"No!" Cheria clutched the book to her chest again. "U-uh, it's just the drawings are so old! And not too good to begin with. Sorry."

She was startled, but Sophie ended up nodding. "…I wish I kept a diary," she said quietly. "I didn't know how to write before, but it would be nice to read my old thoughts."

Cheria looked at Sophie in surprise. She knew that Sophie was no ordinary human girl, but sometimes it was easy to forget just how different she was. "Well, you know how to write now, don't you?"

"Asbel's been helping me. Fredrick and Kerri have been helping too."

"Then why don't you start now?" Cheria placed her hand on top of Sophie's and gave an encouraging smile. "You could write about the things you do remember, you'll get lots of practice, and in the future you can look back relive everything you felt back then. I think you should try it!"

Sophie's eyes lit up. "I should!" She gave Cheria's hand a quick squeeze. "I'll need empty book to write in first."

"I'm sure you can find one in the shops. Or you could order one specially made for you."

"Just for me? Okay!" The two both stood up from the floor. "I want to go now to see if they have an empty diary I can use. Thanks, Cheria." Cheria smiled as Sophie seemed to skip out of the room and make her way to the door. But first she stopped, then ran up to Asbel when his back was turned. "Asbel, guess what? I'm going to start a diary!"

Asbel stopped, turned, and blinked in surprise. "Oh, you are?"

"Mhm! Can I go to the shops and see if they have any blank ones?"

"Sure, you can go look…" Before he could even get all the words out, Sophie was dashing out the door. Cheria couldn't help but laugh. Asbel gave her a wry look. "Let me guess, you had something to do with that?"

"Just a little," she said with amusement, stepping from the landing into the main room. "Sophie and I were just looking through some old books, and she decided she wanted to start writing in a diary."

Asbel nodded and then gestured to the book in her hands. "Is that one of yours?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yes, it is…" Cheria blushed a bit, remembering the drawing hidden inside. "It's from a long time ago, maybe even from before we met Sophie."

"I see. Any old drawings that you're too ashamed to look at?"

Cheria's jaw dropped. "What?! Did you read my diary?!"

Asbel jumped. "No! I figured since you used to draw a lot, you'd probably have some in there. And it's been years, so you know, it wouldn't look as good."

Embarrassed, Cheria pouted and stared at the wall. "Don't startle me like that… And you were right, actually. That's why I was so jumpy earlier."

"Ah, I see." Asbel nodded and went back to packing.

"…You're not even going to ask to see what it is?"

He looked back at her strangely. "It's your diary. I have no right to look inside." Then for a moment Asbel paused. "It's kind of weird that we're talking about this, because I was actually thinking of starting a diary myself."

Cheria looked up in surprise. "Really? You?"

"Yeah, I know." Asbel turned to Cheria and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't think I would have done it otherwise, but a while ago Mom showed Dad's diary to me. I've been reading it here and there. I'm surprised he kept one, and each entry isn't even a page long. Still, there was always something he worried about." Asbel cleared his throat, and looked off into the corner of the room. "I was thinking if I kept a diary myself, maybe one day Sophie or one of my future children would want to read it. That's all."

Cheria watched Asbel give a small thoughtful sigh. She wasn't used to seeing him so introspective. Her hands tightened around the small pink book in her hands. Back when she was a kid, or even just last year when she first travelled with Asbel, she would have felt too scared to go up to him to talk about these kinds of sensitive things. Would she have thought to even ask back then? But here Asbel was, standing in her home, helping her take her belongings into his. He spoke so openly about what was on his heart. Couldn't she do the same now?

Cheria walked up to Asbel and set down the pink diary on the table. She put both of her hands in Asbel's and held tight. She couldn't keep herself from blushing. "I see why you want to start a diary. When you write down your thoughts on paper, even if no one else reads it, it gives it permanence. It's like sharing a piece of yourself that keeps living no matter what happens."

Asbel looked down at Cheria with a hint of surprise in his face. Not quite at what Cheria had said, but probably because she had grabbed his hands so suddenly. "I suppose that's true," he said, then he gave Cheria's hands a warm squeeze.

They looked at each other for a moment. A longer moment than they intended. Cheria was marveling how pretty Asbel's eyes were up close when Asbel cleared his throat and looked back at the wall again, his face growing redder. "We should, uh, probably finish packing soon."

Cheria couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but Asbel still had his hands wrapped tightly around hers. "Oh, uh, yes." But she didn't want to let go of him yet. She thought quickly. "Maybe before we do that, we can stop by the shop, pick up ingredients for lunch, and see if Sophie is still out buying a journal. I bet we could find one for you to start, too."

Asbel nodded with a smile. "That sounds good."

They left the boxes as they were, knowing they would come back to them later. Cheria's left hand still connected her to Asbel's right. She gave one last look to the diary she left on the table. That old drawing of hers really just felt so silly to be worried about now, but she could at least smile about it now.

Because every dream written in that diary, and more, were closer to reaching reality.


End file.
